Practice Sessions: Iconic Blues Rhythms

Developing strong rhythm chops with a solid command of voicings, techniques, and feels is a must for blues players. We spend 90% of our time playing rhythm on the gig, but never enough time practicing rhythm in the shed.

You’ll play your way through this Iconic Blues Rhythms edition from Mike Zito, which focuses on eight iconic blues rhythms. What makes this format really special is how you’ll get these rhythms firmly under your fingers -- you'll practice each of the 8 blues rhythms together in an interactive practice session.

”I’ll kick off each study with a breakdown of the specific feels, techniques, and chord voicings that are characteristic of each particular blues rhythm. I’ll also perform the rhythm part over a backing track to give you a feel for how it sits in the rhythm section.

We’ll cap off each rhythm study together with a hands-on practice session. I’ll roll the track and we’ll trade back and forth as I guide you through the core examples followed by several variations and embellishments.

We’ll start off with the classic blues shuffle pattern in E and then work on a swing blues focusing on ninth chords.

There’s also a soul groove with a classic hammer on chord comp, a sliding minor chord study, an acoustic fingerstyle blues approach, smooth seventh chord study, and a must-know sliding six rhythm.

And finally, we’ll throw in the full rhythm meal deal with a percussive right hand approach, bass run, and chord melody!”

What makes this format really special is how you’ll get these approaches firmly under your fingers -- you’ll practice each of the concepts together with Mike, in a series of interactive practice sessions.

Mike will kick off each study with a breakdown of the key concept, technique, or underlying approach and then he’ll perform the move over a backing track to give you a feel for how it sits in the rhythm section.

You’ll cap off each blues rhythm study together with a hands-on practice session. Mike will roll the track and you’ll trade back and forth as he guides you through the core examples followed by several variations and embellishments. Working regularly with these “practice sessions” is the key to having command of all 8 blues rhythm approaches.

You’ll get standard notation and tabs for all of the performance studies. Plus, you’ll be able to use TrueFire’s learning tools to sync the tab and notation to the video lesson. You can also loop or slow down the videos so that you can work with the lessons at your own pace. All of the backing tracks are included to work with on your own as well.

Grab your guitar and let’s dig in with Mike Zito!